The Other Way (TOW) program is an intensive residential
substance abuse treatment program housed at the Clarinda Correctional
Facility in Clarinda, Iowa. TOW is a voluntary, six-month program that
works with inmates to identify the causes of their addictive behaviors
and encourage changes in unacceptable behaviors and criminal
thinking. The Iowa Consortium for Substance Abuse Research and
Evaluation conducted an evaluation of TOW from October 1997 through
March 2001. The Iowa Consortium worked extensively with the Clarinda
TWO treatment staff to identify valid and reliable instruments that
measured substance use and abuse, mental health and personality
characteristics, criminal behavior and attitudes, social support, and
involvement in education, employment, and therapeutic
activities. These instruments were used to collect data at intake and
discharge. Additionally, the researchers conducted a six-month
follow-up of inmates to determine their post-program experiences as
well as recidivism. Part 1 (Clinical and Recidivism Data) consists of
selected variables gathered during the clinical interviews
administered to program participants at intake and discharge, as well
as recidivism data from the Department of Corrections. Part 2
(Follow-Up Data) consists of variables from the Addiction Severity
Index, which were collected during the six-month follow-up telephone
interview.

The Other Way (TOW) program is an intensive residential
substance abuse treatment program housed at the Clarinda Correctional
Facility in Clarinda, Iowa. TOW is a voluntary, six-month program that
works with inmates to identify the causes of their addictive behaviors
and encourage changes in unacceptable behaviors and criminal
thinking. The Iowa Consortium for Substance Abuse Research and
Evaluation conducted an evaluation of TOW from October 1997 through
March 2001. The Iowa Consortium worked extensively with the Clarinda
TWO treatment staff to identify valid and reliable instruments that
measured substance use and abuse, mental health and personality
characteristics, criminal behavior and attitudes, social support, and
involvement in education, employment, and therapeutic
activities. These instruments were used to collect data at intake and
discharge. Additionally, the researchers conducted a six-month
follow-up of inmates to determine their post-program experiences as
well as recidivism. Part 1 (Clinical and Recidivism Data) consists of
selected variables gathered during the clinical interviews
administered to program participants at intake and discharge, as well
as recidivism data from the Department of Corrections. Part 2
(Follow-Up Data) consists of variables from the Addiction Severity
Index, which were collected during the six-month follow-up telephone
interview.

Guidelines for Applying for Restricted Data

Before you begin an application you will need the following information to complete the form

General Requirements:

appointment at research institution; appointment must be under the jurisdiction of the receiving institution

degree requirements (possibly doctorate)

Must be submitted:

project description

IRB approval

approved security plan

roster of research and IT staff who can access or view the data or computer where data are hosted.

confidentiality pledges for all people on roster

Some require:

CV's

Access to these data is restricted. Users interested in obtaining these data must complete a Restricted Data Use Agreement, specify the reasons for the request, and obtain IRB approval or notice of exemption for their research.

Any public-use data files in this collection are available for access by the general public.
Access does not require affiliation with an ICPSR member institution.

Universe:
All inmates from the Clarinda Correctional Facility who
participated in The Other Way program.

Data Type(s):
administrative records data,
clinical data,
survey data

Methodology

Study Purpose:
The Other Way (TOW) program is an intensive
residential substance abuse treatment program housed at the Clarinda
Correctional Facility in Clarinda, Iowa. Inmates are referred to this
program if they have an identified need for residential-level
substance abuse treatment and are within 12 months of release
consideration. TOW is a voluntary, six-month program that works with
inmates to identify the causes of their addictive behaviors and
encourage changes in unacceptable behaviors and criminal thinking. The
Iowa Consortium for Substance Abuse Research and Evaluation conducted
an evaluation of TOW from October 1997 through March 2001. The TOW
project was undertaken to answer the following research questions: (1)
What services were provided to which types of inmates? (2) Did the
program accomplish its stated intermediate goals (i.e., influence
attitude change) regarding substance abuse? (3) Were there differences
between clients that completed the cognitive unit program at TOW
versus the two 12-step-based units? and (4) Were certain types of
clients better served by the TOW program than others?

Study Design:
The Iowa Consortium for Substance Abuse Research
and Evaluation worked extensively with the Clarinda TWO treatment
staff to identify valid and reliable instruments that measured
substance use and abuse, mental health and personality
characteristics, criminal behavior and attitudes, social support, and
involvement in education, employment, and therapeutic activities. The
instruments were used to measure the inmates longitudinally on
variables relevant to TOW program goals. Criteria for selecting
instruments included the reliability and validity of the instruments,
ease of administration, amount of training required, potential for
dual clinical and evaluation use, and duplication of existing program
instruments. The following instruments were selected for inclusion in
the intake, discharge, and follow-up assessments: the Addiction
Severity Index (ASI), the Colorado Cognitive Assessment Questionnaire,
Circumstances, Motivation, and Readiness Scales (CMR) for Substance
Abuse Treatment, the Social Provisions Scale (SPS), the Self-Help
Questionnaire, and the STEPS Questionnaire. A consumer satisfaction
survey was also administered at the discharge interview. The
assessment instruments were used to determine subject life history,
subject lifetime and 30-day psychiatric and substance-abuse
experiences, and subject change over the course of the program in
areas such as criminal thinking, cognitive abilities, perceived social
support, and readiness for change. Data were collected at five
different points during the evaluation. An intake packet was
administered to subjects during the first week of the program as part
of the orientation. The instruments in the intake packet consisted of
Likert-type scale self-report questions, and they were completed by
the inmates during orientation. The Addiction Severity Index was
administered by trained staff shortly after the completion of the
intake packet. The ASI is a structured interview that assesses medical
status, employment status, family relationships, psychiatric status,
drug and alcohol use, legal status, and family history. The discharge
packet given to subjects at the end of the final phase of treatment
contained opinion-based assessment instruments identical to those
found in the intake packet. Part 1 (Clinical and Recidivism Data)
consists of a secondary analysis of selected variables from the intake
and discharge assessments. Recidivism data were also gathered during
January 2001 by querying the Department of Correction's computer
database to gather additional demographic information on each subject
and to determine recidivism rates of the participants. For Part 2
(Follow-Up Data), a telephone interview was conducted at least six
months following subjects' release from the Clarinda facility. The
phone interview consisted of a subset of the ASI questions and the
intake packet. The telephone interviews gathered detailed information
on the subjects' post-TOW experiences regarding substance use, mental
health, and adjustment. The phone interviews lasted approximately one
hour and were conducted by a trained consortium interviewer who
telephoned inmates who had previously agreed to be contacted.

Sample:
For Part 1, a total of 792 inmates completed at least one
of the instrument packages, but this study centered around the 351
subjects who completed all three instruments. This sample represents
people who had completed the entire TOW program. Dropouts and
expulsions were not followed. For Part 2, 242 subjects out of 351
filled out a permission form to participate in a follow-up phone
interview. Of the 242 subjects, 207 agreed to participate in the phone
interview. Of the 207 who agreed to be interviewed, 73 were not
released from prison by the time data collection had ended, 24 were
released from prison but had not yet been out six months by the time
data collection had ended, 72 could not be located using the contact
information provided on their consent form or were unavailable due to
reincarceration, and 17 declined to participate once contact was
established. This left a sample size of 31 subjects who completed the
follow-up interview.

Data Source:

Data were gathered from clinical assessments,
self-administered questionnaires, telephone interviews, and
administrative records from the Iowa Department of Corrections.

Description of Variables:
Demographic variables in Part 1 (Clinical and
Recidism Data) include age, race, education, occupation, and marital
status of the subject. Incarceration variables measure length of
incarceration, number of felonies and misdemeanors committed prior to
program participation, and number of personal, property, and
chemical-related crimes committed prior to program
participation. Substance abuse information includes whether the
subject ever used alcohol, marijuana, and a variety of other drugs,
and whether the subject ever participated in a substance abuse help
program. Cognitive deficiency variables include scales of
normlessness, self-concept, peer influence, external influence,
powerlessness, problem-solving, empathy, attitudes toward police,
criminal rationalization, victim awareness, and attitudes toward crime
and drugs. Finally, recidivism variables include type of discharge,
whether the subject recidivated, time to recidivism, and reason for
recidivism. Information in Part 2 (Follow-Up Data) comes from the
follow-up administration of the Addiction Severity Index. Demographic
variables include gender, living situation, and length of
residence. Other variables measure medical status, employment status,
family and social relationships, psychiatric status, and drug and
alcohol use since release from TOW.

Response Rates:
For Part 1, 44.3 percent of inmates were
eligible for inclusion in the sample. For Part 2, data were collected
for 15 percent of the subjects who initially agreed to participate in
the follow-up study.

Presence of Common Scales:
Scales used were the Addiction Severity Index (ASI), the
Colorado Cognitive Assessment Questionnaire, the Circumstances,
Motivation, and Readiness (CMR) Scales for Substance Abuse Treatment,
the Social Provisions Scale (SPS), the Self-Help Questionnaire, the
STEPS Questionnaire, and other Likert-type scales.

Version(s)

Original ICPSR Release: 2003-05-09

Version History:

2006-03-30 File UG3368.ALL.PDF was removed from any previous datasets and flagged as a study-level file, so that it will accompany all downloads.

2006-03-30 File CQ3368.ALL.PDF was removed from any previous datasets and flagged as a study-level file, so that it will accompany all downloads.